[millimeterman]

> Any economic thought a bit further left than left-of-center gets quickly deemed "not economics."

I would encourage you to listen to actual economics experts and academics, not right-wing hacks dressed in economic cosplay. Despite their posturing, libertarians and free-market fundamentalists are just as divorced from economic reality as anyone else.

Economists in the US actually skew significantly Democrat[1] and surveys of economists on various topics generally show left-of-center leanings[2]. It's worth noting though that the political leaning of an economist need not indicate the quality of their research and plenty of good results have come from economists with atypical views.

1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2007...

2. https://www.igmchicago.org/igm-economic-experts-panel/